Different perspectives are always insightful. Two authors who have
             provided us with images of the south are Flannery O'Connor and William
             Faulkner. In Flannery O'Connor's short story, "The Life You Save May Be
             Your Own" and William Faulkner's "Barn Burning," we are presented with
             different pictures of the old south and those who lived there. O'Connor
             illustrates the gullible in Mrs. Crater and Faulkner gives us insight into
             the lives of those who lived under slavery with Abner's family.
             In "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," Mrs. Crater and her daughter
             live in a "desolate" (O'Connor 262) part of the country. Their home is in
             an isolated area and very far from any public road. Mrs. Crater also owned
             a large piece of property because we are told that at night "the old
             woman's three mountains were black against the dark blue sky" (267). We
             are also told that the yard has a water pump as well as chickens that were
             planning on roosting in a fig tree. Additionally, there is an old shed in
             the yard that contains an old rusted vehicle. (263) We also get an idea of
             how isolated the yard is when Mr. Shiftlet tells Mrs. Crater that he would
             "give a fortune to live where I could see me a sun do that every evening"
             (263). Mr. Shiftlet speaks of a doctor in Atlanta, so we can assume that
             Atlanta is the nearest big city to this part of the country.
             Southerners are depicted as very trusting in this story. For instance,
             even after Mr. Shiftlet goes into his speech about how "nowadays people'll
             do anything" (264), and then tells her that he could not be who he says he
             is, Mrs. Crater still believes his name is Tom Shiftlet. Mr. Shiftlet uses
             his time with Mrs. Crater to build her trust. For example, he "patched the
             front and back steps, built a new hog pen, restored a fence, and taught
             Lucynell, who was completely deaf and had never said a word in her life to
             say the word bird'" ...